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petdrz., Dog Veterinarian

Category: Dog

Satisfied Customers: 7267

Experience: Over 30 years of experience in caring for dogs and cats.

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My dog has an issue on s paw pad. it has been ongoing month.

Customer Question

Hi my dog has an issue on his paw pad.it has been ongoing for 1 month. for the first 2 weeks i let him play in the pool, lake and wasn't religious with the cone. the third week i still let him in the pool but was diligent with the cone and the 4th week no more pool. cone on at all times. he has been on antibodics and steroids for a month along with soaking nighly in chlorahexidine. the paw was never wrapped. it hasn't improved. our old vet - (we switched tuesday) wants a biopsy since it hasnt' really improved. we went to a new vet and now are trying clavamox and muprocin ointment. keeping it wrapped at all times and if not significant improvement we will biopsy in 2 weeks. do you think that is appropriate?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I had noticed something similiar to a corn on his left paw pad 2 days before we left for vacation. The night before we left I checked it when I went to soak it in chlorahexmide and noticed what appeared to be similiar to an open blister on his back right paw pad. I had already called our vet and they couldn't get him until the day after we went on vacation so we took him to a vet in the Ozarks where we were vacationing which my other pets have been to before. The area where the "blister" was is attached to the paw pad and it was very inflammed. He wasn't acting like it bothered him, I'm not sure if he stepped on something, bit it open and irritated it or it's something horrible like cancer. Sounds crazy but I guess squamous cells can't be ruled out since they aspiration was unsuccessful. Here is a picture from Tuesday.

Customer:replied 1 year ago.

Let me know if this picture doesn't work please.

Customer:replied 1 year ago.

I wish I had taken a picture to begin with but it didn't cross my mind. With him being a shih tzu he chews on his paws all the time. He has lots of allergies and I think he gets bored too. I know I made the mistake of not making him wear the cone dilligently or wrapping it for walks from the get go. I am really just worried it's cancer and I'm going to wait too long to do something

I am sorry that you have been waiting for a response. I recently just logged onto the site and noted that your question hasn't yet been answered. I am a licensed veterinarian with over 25 years’ experience and would be happy work with you if you are still needing assistance.Of course it is difficult to visualize completely in a photo and without an exam of the rest of his skin and a review of his past dermatologic history, one can only speculate, but the lesion looks rather proliferative. This would be more consistent with a tumor of some sort,but long standing infections, especially if they are allowed to lick at it can form granulation tissue, which can also look proliferative. This is a condition referred to as a lick granuloma.I am glad that he is of of the steriod since if there is a bacterial component present, it may slow healing. Clavamox is not the best choice for infections involving the skin, so it may be worth getting a bacterial culture which can be difficult if there is not a draining lesion. Personally, I would proceed now with a skin biopsy of the affected tissue and remove an additional piece of tissue for a macerated tissue culture for bacteria (they take a small piece of tissue and cut it up and culture it for bacteria). This would be the best way to find out if bacteria are involved and if there are cancer cells involved.I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have ANY other questions. My goal is to give you 100% satisfaction and if you are not yet satisfied, please reply so I can clarify for you.Dr Z

Thanks so much for your opinion!!! Don't mind the wait but the vet tech told me she would get back to me after I had posted my question because she had a doctor appointment. Just wish it had been passed on immediatly and not after a 6 hour wait with me following up. :)I wouldn't hesitate doing the biopsy and WHATEVER else is needed if it wasn't in such a bad spot to begin with. Also had made him keep his cone on so he couldn't lick, bite and gnaw on it. Plus he walked on gravel, hot asphalt, lake and pool water. I am completely not making any excuses for holding back we have already had an unnecessary surgery on him and I just hate to do it again. Do you think if we wait until Monday to see if there is any improvement we will lose any time in the event we have sarcoma and need to amputate his leg? Thanks again Dr. Appreciate the feedback.

I am replying back just so that I can exit the question for now. There is no need to respond now as when you do, it calls me back to this post and prevents me from answering others until I respond to you. Please keep me posted as to how things progress.